China's first AP 1000 nuclear power reactor getting ready

China's first nuclear power reactor using US-based Westinghouse Electric AP 1000 technology is expected to begin operations in October 2014, the manager of a Chinese nuclear power company said today.

Gu Jun, General Manager of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corp, said construction of the reactor is proceeding well.

Construction on the reactor, the No. 1 reactor of the Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in east China's Zhejiang Province, has been underway since 2009, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The company had previously planned to bring the reactor online in 2013, but construction slowed after a devastating tsunami crippled a nuclear power plant in Japan in March 2011.

Slowing down construction allowed time for design adjustments and stricter construction requirements issued out of concerns over endurance, the company said.

China had 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 GW, and another 26 units currently under construction will add another 29.24 GW, according to a government white paper on energy policy released in October 2012.

The AP1000 is a two-loop pressurized water reactor[1] sold by Westinghouse Electric Company.

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